The Wet ‘n’ Windy Visit of Cyclone ‘Jasper’ …

… it’s raining heavily as I pen this … it is the ‘wet’ season after all … but nothing like the utterly torrential rains that Cyclone Jasper brought to Cairns and the far north in mid December.

Although the actual cyclone was somewhat lower on the scale as cyclones go … the rains that followed in Jasper’s wake were the most intense seen up here in many decades.

Breaking most of the very long standing rainfall records, metres high flooding and massive landslides caused absolute havoc … and as usual it’s my sometimes challenging job to cover the happenings photographically. As a freelance this gets a little complicated as the phone runs a little hot from calls from news publications and the ‘wires’ (news agencies).

Over the course of Jasper’s journey across the Coral Sea, it’s approach and crossing of the far north coast and it’s impact and aftermath thereafter … I found myself working for all of AAP (Australian Associated Press), AFP (Agence France Presse), NCA Newswire … and News Ltd. The images I made over the initial couple of weeks of turmoil were syndicated and published around the planet … some turning up in places and publications that I had no idea existed.

Jaspers effect on far north Queensland was massive. The Cairns northern beach suburbs of Holloways, Machans and Yorkeys Knob were inundated with metres of flood water … many residents escaping to their rooftops and eventual chopper rescue. Indigenous townships further north were so badly flooded that entire communities were evacuated. At least one was swept to their death. Metres of rain eroded mountains and caused numerous massive landslides that crushed buildings, covered main roads and changed the landscape … and that’s just part of the story.

Here’s links to just over a handful of the many publications where my work turned up over the cyclone event … The Arkansas Democrat Daily – USA, The Peninsula – Qatar, The Hindustan Times – India, The New Straits Times – Malaysia, RNZ – New Zealand, France 24, International – The News – Pakistan, Kuwait Times … and The Augusta-Margaret River Mail – WA Australia. They were scores more around the planet.

There’s a selection of my Jasper images (so far) below and here are short details of each for context … from top … as follows … 1. The Sanders family watch Jasper roll in across the Coral Sea at Holloways Beach … 2. Linda Applbee sits on the saturated contents stripped from their flooded Holloways Beach home … 3. Two Pictures on the wall … Steven and Caroline Cheng survey the flooding in their house of 38 years at Holloways Beach … 4. Evacuated residents leave the flooded Barron River bridge Cairns to return to their Holloways beach home … 5. Evacuated residents reunite with rescued family members at the Barron River Bridge Cairns … 6. (left) A discharged patient awaits outside the Emergency Department of Cairns Hospital behind a line of sand bags … (right) Tree surgeon Brice Stienstra removes a felled tree from Muddies Playground on the Cairns Esplanade … 7. (left) Rattled … Inundated ‘Rattle ‘n’ Hum’ bar on the Esplanade at Palm Cove as Jasper closes in … (right) 11 year old Cairns resident Jaxon Andrews tends to a cyclone battered and drenched white cockatoo … 8. (left) Ergon electrician Justin Pitts prepares to fix a power line victim of Jasper … (right) Motorists traverse flooded Cairns streets during torrential rains … 9. A massive tree snapped by Jasper on the Cairns Esplanade.

The first image of the waves at Holloways Beach turned up full TV screen whilst watching CNN … and the fourth image, made at the Barron River bridge in Cairns, was one of 23 images selected in the ‘Australia’s Best Agency Photography for 2023’ collection published by The Guardian. Nice …

Covering Jasper certainly wasn’t uneventful … my favourite lens became a victim of saturation … and I managed to fracture a vertebrae in a fall … minor stuff … and I’ve a feeling Jasper’s story isn’t quite over yet …

Images © Brian Cassey, AAP, AFP, NCANewswire

The Legacy and Images of Bruce Martin … ABC Far North …

One of the saddest and most difficult interviews I’ve faced …

Recently I was asked by ABC Far North ‘Breakfast’ presenter Charlie McKillop If i’d be interested in a short live radio interview on the tragic loss of Aurukun and Wik influential leader Bruce Martin at the age of thirty nine.

I first really met ‘Waal Waal’ … (respectfully ‘The Departed’ during mourning) … eleven years ago, when I covered an Aak Puul Ngantam wild cattle mustering operation on Cape York Peninsula for The Australian newspaper. The near week long coverage meant I spent time around the camp fire listening in awe as ‘Waal Waal’ held court and outlined his future vision for the Wik people of Aurukun. (It was later when I realised that we had, in fact, met fleetingly when I made very wet portraits of him during his water polo days in the mid 2000’s)

I was later honoured when he officially opened my exhibition of images of the mustering operation – “Aak Paul Ngantam Stockman” (including portraits of all the crew) – at The Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns.

Thereafter ‘Waal Waal’ Martin’s career really took off. He became a member of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council and served as a director of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation.

Our last meeting was an impromptu breakfast (with his home made marmalade) in an Aurukun home a couple of years back.

There are a few links here below which document much more of the potential and life cut so cruelly short … and an image of mine that has become synonymous with that life. I … and many many others … will sorely miss you.

And … Yes … the full audio of the interview with Charlie McKillop on ABC Far North is here directly below too … and runs for around six and a half minutes.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-22/far-north-queensland-remembers-aurukun-wik-man-bruce-martin/102629858

https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/play/2014/02/abc-radio-interview-fiona-sewell-aak-puul-ngantam-stockman/

https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/photographs/aak-puul-ngantam-stockman/

Image © Brian Cassey

My ‘Stills’ in Brilliant Stan Doco “The Cape” …

So gratified to be a part of the documentary film “The Cape” recently released on Stan.

The doco tells in stark graphic detail the events surrounding the disappearance of Queensland fisherman Bevin Simmonds and his ten year old son Brad whilst checking shark nets off the west coast of Cape York Peninsula in 2003 … and the subsequent investigations, eventual murder charges and 2005 trial of rival fisher Michael Gater (who was having an affair with Bevin’s wife Cathy) and Gater’s mother Joan.

‘The Cape’ story was an original concept of friend and former journalist colleague Peter Michael … and  also features a disturbing but fascinating number of gritty Cape character interviewees who knew the Gator, Simmonds and Ward families … alongside some wonderfully shot scenes of Cape York, the Gulf and the Great Barrier Reef.

Produced by veteran war correspondent Michael Ware and former news magazine exec Justine A Rosenthal, ‘The Cape’ is evocatively filmed and beautifully put together … and also contains over thirty of my images of the stories main protagonists, used to great effect full screen. All of my images were made during the two week Supreme Court trial in Cairns and portray murder accused pair Michael Gater and his mother Joan Gater, Bevin and Brad’s wife and mother Cathy …  and many other members of the Gater and Ward clan’s who attended the proceedings.

Just the ‘looks’ in the photographs I made there still send chills …

The show … available to Stan subscribers here … has received rave reviews. (For those not Stan subscribed the ‘trailer’ is here.)

Entertainment website MamaMia writes, “The new Stan Original Documentary Revealed: The Cape is one of the most gripping and emotionally charged documentaries of the year“. TV Blackbox put it this way … “The Cape” is the story of rival fishing families who built empires amongst the twisted mangroves in Far North Queensland. The isolation, an all-consuming sexual obsession and a series of small choices leads to a suspected double murder of Brad and Bevin Simmonds. Emmy® Award-nominated filmmakers, Michael Ware and Justine A. Rosenthal take us on a journey into Australia’s Deep North and the human psyche to uncover what we’re capable of when our humanity is stripped bare in this fascinating portrayal of an insular and isolated community.”

The Daily Mail also published this nice piece on the producers and the tribulations of making the film in the run up to it’s release.

Below is (top) the Stan doco promo … followed by just four of my thirty odd ‘stills’ © that were used in the film … from top … accused murderer Michael Gater pensive during the 2005 two week trial, his mother and fellow accused Joan Gater, Bevin Simmonds wife and Michael Gater’s lover Cathy Simmonds … and Michael Gater outside court with a grin following his acquittal.

It was a distinct pleasure to work with ‘The Cape’ team … they were a pleasure … Thanks All!

(NB … I also appear in TV footage at the Supreme Court trial in Cairns making images of the Gaters … and looking rather ‘scruffy’ doing it … if you are game … watch around the 69th, 70th minute mark!)

Images © Brian Cassey … Documentary ‘The Cape’ © Stan & various entities

@stanaustralia @woodenhorse.tv #TheCapeOnStan #StanOriginals #RevealedOnStan @fremantle @screenaustralia @screennsw @thepostlounge

Marilyn Monroe, Playboy Magazine … & Bonn …

… VERY much a departure from what I normally do … and for that matter … what I’ve ever done.

I admit … this image I produced may look somewhat ‘familiar’ to many of a certain ‘vintage’. However, I can assure you that it is brand new. The ‘polar opposite’ of photojournalism, documentary, reportage etc, it does, indeed, tell a timely story I wanted to tell.

The year 2022 marked the 60th anniversary of the death of arguably the planet’s greatest ever sex symbol … movie star and blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe. She died at just 36 …

There were many thousands of photographs made of Marilyn (Norma Jeane) during her stellar but far too short career as an actress, model, sometimes singer … and undeniable centre of massive unrelenting attention.

What I aimed to portray in this work was a recreation of ‘Marilyn’ in the vintage style of the days of the mid last century when she captivated audiences around the World … and in Cairns character and model Bonn Marie I knew I had just the person to make that happen. (Bonn had previously featured in one of my works that gained a fair bit of International attention.)

In particular … this image I made of Bonn (below) mirrors one of the works of US photographer Tom Kelley who had the enviable task of shooting Marilyn’s infamous ‘red velvet’ set in 1949 before her acting career took off (when she had red hair pre the ‘blond bombshell’ era). Strangely Tom’s image didn’t receive lavish attention until Hugh Hefner selected it for the first centrefold in the first ever edition of Playboy Magazine in 1953 !

I still can’t get over the fantastic job that Bonn (aided by the mastery of make up artist Sue Kim) did in morphing into Marilyn’s character and look … the resemblance is chilling. Despite the fact that I didn’t attempt to copy the original pose in Tom’s work directly … the similarities in body shape, pose, style, expression and more are obvious. Bonn created a damn fine Marilyn …

A couple of little interesting asides about the original Kelley image. Originally … pre Playboy … Marilyn faced right to left in the frame. Hefner decided to reverse it in the magazine centrefold … and that’s the way I made the ‘tribute’ image with Bonn. As well as making Hefner’s new magazine a massive success, Kelley’s image … an image of tastefulness and sophistication … became truly historic, played a key role in shaping 20th century history, led to a redefinition of female sexuality in America and spawned a sexual revolution.

This is the first time ever I’ve ‘remade’ an earlier image by another photographer … and I’m damn sure it will also be the last … but I do hope you enjoy the resulting work, Bonn’s amazing ‘Marilyn’ portrayal and the rationale behind retelling a pivotal and timely part of the Monroe story.

This “Marilyn” – Bonn large framed work (below) is currently pride of place on the wall in the exhibition “Red Hot” (and available for sale) at the Kite Gallery in Cairns. The exhibition of great works runs until 16th January 2023 and is well worth checking out.

Image © Brian Cassey … with subject Bonn Marie and hair, makeup Sue Kim … (with Thanks and acknowledgement to photographer Tom Kelley)

Tribute to Marilyn Monroe sixty years after her untimely death in 1962 .... Image by Brian Cassey © (with Bonn Marie) based on the 1949 'Red sheet' work by photographer Tom Kelley which became Marilyn's and Playboy Magazines first ever cenrefold. in the magazine's first edition in 1953.

One Place Better … International Portrait Photographer of the Year …

Chuffed … !  The results just in for the 2022 ‘The International Portrait Photographer of the Year’ awards … and two of my images are represented.

‘The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa’ (top below) has been selected as the winner of Second Place  (The Family Sitting) “The International Portrait photographer of the Year”  … and, very nicely includes the award of some ‘folding stuff’ and … rare these days … a glass trophy to whack in the ‘office’. It will also be showcased TWICE in the accompanying book ‘The Top 101 International Portrait Photographs of the Year’ … firstly in the ‘winners’ section  and then in the ‘Top 101’ portraits section.

Also selected in the ‘Top 101’ section of the book is my portrait of gorgeous African American Aurora Coulter … ‘Mother Africa – Aurora’ (also below).

‘The Top 101 International Portrait Photographs of the Year’ book will be available in hard cover and as an ebook in the very near future. Stay tuned for the link …

Both portraits have featured in other earlier International and Australian award selections. Check ’em out on my ‘awards’ page here …

Images © Brian Cassey

2022 International Portrait Photographer of the Year - WINNER 2nd Place - "The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa" - The Family Sitting - "Mother Africa - Aurora" - by Brian Cassey

2022 International Portrait Photographer of the Year - WINNER 2nd Place - "The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa" - The Family Sitting - "Mother Africa - Aurora" - by Brian Cassey

‘A Photographer’s Life – Part Two’ at The Court House Gallery …

Now just over two weeks since the doors opened on my latest exhibition … ‘A Photographer’s Life – Part Two’ … and one week since a brilliant official opening eve event at the beautiful venue, the heritage listed Court House Gallery.

Following on from ‘A Photographer’s Life – Part One’ … exhibited at the Head On Photo Festival in Sydney and The Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns in 2017 … there was always going to be a ‘Part Two’.

Essentially a ‘Retrospective’, the ‘Part One’ exhibition featured work selected from my archives … negatives from long forgotten boxes and numerous disk drives … that charted the progression from my first roll of film as a pre-teen, through my first paid media work in London town as a teen and onto my career across the decades producing press work that was published around the planet..

‘Part Two’ is a fundamentally different exhibition of work. It contains a few images that didn’t quite make the space cut for ‘Part One’ – but most of the work is new and made from 2016 up until today. Whilst ‘Part One’ was almost exclusively ‘assigned’ media work the ‘Part Two’ images are much less so. The decline in media work and the lack of media opportunity and funding has meant that much of the new work was made independently, often self funded and sometimes just purely personally observational. The photographs emanated from India, China, Sri Lanka, the United States, Papua New Guinea, the UK … and around Australia, 

An integral part of the new exhibition is the ‘story behind the images’. Each work is accompanied by text explaining how the image came about and why. Many of them are quite personal. Feedback from exhibition visitors so far is that the ‘stories’ added a depth and dimension to the images. Gratifying 🙂

The opening eve event on November 5th was a thoroughly enjoyable big success. An individual exhibition opening record crowd of over a hundred and twenty five crammed ‘standing room only’ in the ‘Court Room’ to witness ABC Radio’s Fiona Sewell ‘grill’ me nicely about eight of the thirty seven exhibition images for about forty five minutes. Many Thanks for hosting the event Fiona.  Great to see friends and colleagues past and present .. many I hadn’t seen in years … turn up for the occasion. Thanks all …

Also launched at the event was the large format high definition limited edition collectors book ‘A Photographer’s Life – Part One & Part Two’ … containing … yes … all the images (85 in all over 88 pages) from both ‘Part One’ and ‘Part Two’. All those who order a copy during the exhibition period (till 11th December) with have their names and an acknowledgment printed in the book … and my scrawled as best I can signature too 😉 . Order at the Court House Gallery office or phone either Dayle on 07 40326621 or the office on 07 40326620.

Greatest respect and massive thanks to Curator Chris Stannard , Dayle Jordon, Megan O’Rourke and the rest of the council team who did a brilliant job hanging and presenting the exhibition. 

The exhibition continues until the 11th December Tuesdays to Saturdays 10am to 4pm … another four weeks to take it in. (If anyone would like a ‘personalised’ tour of the work I will be happy to try and do just that … just contact me.)

Below are images … (impossible in small pics to do justice to the exhibition, the work and the gallery) … of the works on the wall, the opening eve event and the book.

Images © Brian Cassey (4), Brendan Radke (2) & Stacey Carrick (1) (Many Thanks Brendan and Stacey)

 

'A Photographer's Life - Part Two' Exhibition at The Court House Gallery Cairns - by Brian Cassey

'A Photographer's Life - Part Two' Exhibition at The Court House Gallery Cairns - by Brian Cassey

'A Photographer's Life - Part Two' Exhibition at The Court House Gallery Cairns - by Brian Cassey

'A Photographer's Life - Part Two' Exhibition at The Court House Gallery Cairns - by Brian Cassey

'A Photographer's Life - Part Two' Exhibition at The Court House Gallery Cairns - by Brian Cassey

'A Photographer's Life - Part Two' Exhibition at The Court House Gallery Cairns - by Brian Cassey

'A Photographer's Life - Part Two' Exhibition at The Court House Gallery Cairns - by Brian Cassey

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Good News … but … The Saddest News Of All …

I confess … it’s hard to write this one … (but please read on … )

Two women … one young and vibrant … the other a little older but with an immense strength … two very different stories. 

The link … apart from a little similarity of pose etc … is that both have just been announced as Winners of Bronze Awards in the Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA – Hungary). images ©Brian Cassey

The saddest and must unfair news is that Carol (“The Skin I’m In” – first pic) died last weekend at the end of a far too short life full of tragedy, pain and many triumphs of will  … on the very day these awards were announced. Carol was severely burnt in a house fire as a young mum. Her family was told she would not survive. Following a year of coma, countless skin grafts and care … survive she did. She made the most of it … 

She dedicated the years since the accident to spreading the message to other burns survivors that there is still much to live for and celebrate. Carol’s rationale in allowing me to make personal images of her showing the extent of the burns to her body was part of that ideal. The work … and the positive reaction to the work … gave Carol added confidence to engage in speaking engagements that provided hope to many.

My images of Carol turned up in numerous awards, news articles and TV programs … and there are links to many on my blog pages. Amongst them are … “They Did It … Pics In Space X 3” which tells of Carol’s image (and two others of mine) being sent and projected in ‘Space’ and the resulting feature on the TV program “The Project” .  More on the subject here at “Pics in Space’ … Out of This World with ‘Portrait of Humanity” .  (The projection of Carol’s pic in ‘space’ and transmitted across the Universe … now seems very fitting.) There are many more and Carol’s images have been a regular occurrence on my ‘Awards Page’.

I spent more time talking to Carol than actually photographing her … she was my friend … myself and the community will sorely miss but never forget her.

… and then we have Bonn Marie … young, vibrant and all red hair, freckles and an innate curiosity with the World. She’s fun, deep and intelligent … and a joy to work with. Couldn’t help but name the second image “Bonn – Asking the Question”.

Somewhat strange that these two pics were recognised together with Bronze Awards … Carol’s in People Portrait and Bonn’s in Fine Art Portrait.

Images © Brian Cassey

Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA) 2020 - Bronze Award - People Portraits - "The Skin I'm In" by Brian Cassey

Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA) 2020 - Bronze Award - Fine Art Portraits - "Bonn - Asking The Question" by Brian Cassey

 

Two Exhibitions in Sydney … (If Only I Could Get There !) …

Moshe Rosenzveig and the crew of the 2020 Head On Photo Festival performed miracles earlier on this year as Covid-19 tightened it’s grip on Australia and the planet. They transformed a massive ‘venue’ based photography festival into the World’s first ‘On Line’ photo festival in a matter of just a few short weeks … and opened on time in the first weeks of May. The ‘On Line’ awards, artist talks, photography workshops and panel talks were aired on screens to thousands watching and listening around the planet and across Australia. An amazing effort …

With gallery spaces ‘out of bounds’ due to Covid the more traditional (and aesthetically more pleasing) ‘photographs on walls’ exhibitions reluctantly had to be put on ‘hold’.

I had two involvements in this years Head On ‘On Line’ photo festival … a personal exhibition “Me Too … Where The Boys Are … The Girls Are” (a photo essay on the performance of male strippers and their female audience) … and the co-curation (with Moshe Rosenzveig) of a project close to the heart … “Paper Tigers” … a collection of the work by sixty of Australia’s finest photojournalists. Both received large views on-line.

Now six months later, as Covid cases thankfully take a massive dive, these two exhibitions and work by many others are showing physically ‘on the walls’ (and fences) in numerous galleries and at venues around Sydney. Brilliant … and astonishing work by Head On !

Very sadly … I can’t ‘B’ well get there ! My Queensland Premier has stood fast to her decision that the borders between the Sunshine State and Sydney will remain firmly shut till (extremely annoyingly) at least the first of December … just days after these exhibitions close. The way of the World in 2020 … but I’m still gutted …

My exhibition “Me Too … Where The Boys Are … The Girls Are” opened yesterday on the wall at the fabulously atmospheric venue of the Paddington Reservoir Gardens … and runs there alongside four other great exhibits until the 29th of November. Photographer colleague, mate and gentleman Michael Amendolia went out of his way to lessen the blow of not ‘being there’ by sending me a raft of images of my exhibition in place (below). Thanks Michael !

The “Paper Tigers” exhibition (and the launch of the “Paper Tigers” book) opens at the new ‘Twenty Twenty Six Gallery’ in Bondi tomorrow … with an official opening this Saturday afternoon. Many of my Sydney based colleagues will be attending (lucky them) … whilst us interstate contributors will have to be patient until further opportunities eventuate down the track.

There will be more on ‘Paper Tigers’ … how it came about, what it contains and why it is important … a little later when I receive some images from colleagues who get to attend the gallery …

In the meantime … Paul Neeson from Sydney radio station East Side FM and I had an ‘on air’ chat about my work and both these exhibitions and the Head On Photo Festival in general. It runs for just over twenty one minutes and can be listened to here below. There is also an online text story on “Me Too … Where The Boys Are … The Girls Are” here.

 

Damn that bloody virus !

Images © Brian Cassey (two pics from “Me Too … “Where The Boys Are … The Girls Are” and my “Paper Tigers” image “Abdullatif” … & … Michael Amendolia (top 2 General Exhibition pics)

Head On Photofestival 2020 - Paddington Reservoir Gardens - "Me Too - Where The Boys Are ... The Girls Are" - exhibition of work by Brian Cassey

Head On Photofestival 2020 - Paddington Reservoir Gardens - "Me Too - Where The Boys Are ... The Girls Are" - exhibition of work by Brian Cassey

Head On Photofestival 2020 - Paddington Reservoir Gardens - "Me Too - Where The Boys Are ... The Girls Are" - exhibition of work by Brian Cassey

Head On Photofestival 2020 - Paddington Reservoir Gardens - "Me Too - Where The Boys Are ... The Girls Are" - exhibition of work by Brian Cassey

Head On Photofestival 2020 - Twenty Twenty Six Gallery - Bondi - "Paper Tigers" - exhibition of work by 60 Australian photojournalists co-curated by Brian Cassey

TV, Radio … and More … !

An amazing couple of weeks …

It seems that the ‘Portrait of Humanity’ award and projection in ‘space’ of two of my pics hit ‘the spot’ with a variety of media … and I’ve spent some time on interviews with various TV, radio and other media outlets talking about it rather than making new images 🙂

First off the rank was ABC Far North correspondent  Sharnie Kim who did a great job on her ‘Portrait of Humanity’ story for publication on the ABC web site at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-12/carol-mayer-photograph-shortlisted-in-portrait-of-humanity/12335282 . Sharnie not only went into the back story of my two selected images … ‘The Skin I’m In’ and ‘Ramnami’ … but also sourced several other ‘short listed’ pics from other photographers.

Didn’t take long for radio to get in on the act … Sarah Speller interviewed myself ‘live’ on ABC Breakfast Far North (at not the best time very early on a Saturday morn) … and then followed that with another recorded segment on her ‘Sarah’s Spot’ on Cairns Radio 4CA a few days later. If you fancy … here (below) are Sarah’s two radio interviews (roughly near six minutes each).

ABC Breakfast Far North – Radio Interview ‘Portrait of Humanity’ – 5.50

 

Sarah’s Spot – 4CA – Radio Interview ‘Portrait of Humanity’ – 5:52

 

The biggest buzz, however, was the piece on the top rating Channel Ten news program ‘The Project’. Really pleased that the program centred on the my amazing subject, burns survivor Carol Mayer, her strength and her story following the fire tragedy when she was a young mum. Lisa Wilkinson opened The Project’ with the news of the selection of my pic of Carol in the 2020  ‘Portrait of Humanity’ … and I later made a little cameo telling of how the pic came about and our relationship. Carol was amazing throughout the interview … and the comments at the end of the segment by show host Lisa Wilkinson were worth watching alone. The show featured a total of nine of my images of Carol … including, of course, the one chosen for ‘Portrait of Humanity’.

The show ran for 6:28 and can be watched here …

Carol Mayer on ‘The Project’

 

Whilst all this was going on I was also asked to be involved and interviewed for the State Library of Queensland’s ‘Behind the Lens’ series as part of their current exhibition ‘TWENTY – Two Decades of Queensland Photography’. Five of the many photographers who have contributed to SLQ’s headline exhibition were each asked to feature in a series of twenty minute interviews over the next few weeks … and mine was first off the rank. Had a nice long chat with SLQ’s Anna Thurgood … the piece of us chatting was also interspersed with my exhibition images made during Cyclones Winifred, Yasi, Larry, Ita and Ului … and the result was broadcast online last Thursday along with a Q&A. However, you can still catch the entire twenty minute interview here below (sadly without the Q&A) …

State Library of Queensland – ‘Behind the Lens’ – ‘TWENTY – Two Decades of Queensland Photography’

All the above audio and video files may also be played … along with many more from the past … on the ‘Play’ page of my web site at https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/play

Now … back to work making more pictures 🙂

 

Rural Press Awards … there is a free lunch …

… but I won’t be there for it!

Was invited to a free lunch tomorrow at The Tattersall’s Club in Brisbane for the presentation of this year’s  “Excellence in Rural Journalism Awards” … but sadly can’t take it up.

Seems my image of young indigenous girl “Mowisha from Jumbun” has been selected as the Winner of the ‘Excellence in Rural Photography – People’ award. The pic was made whilst I was working in the Jumbun aboriginal community in the Murray River valley near Tully, North Queensland for an SBS story “The Town at the End of the Road” by Mark White.

Jumbun residents, like little Mowisha, are predominantly from the Girrimay and Dyirbal Aboriginal clans. Her community of about a hundred are battling the controlling Indigenous Land Council to resurrect a farming industry. The 200ha Jumbun property is still listed on the ILC’s books as Jumbun Farm, despite nothing currently being grown there by its residents. That wasn’t always the case. Jumbun was founded in 1975 as a farming community under the Whitlam government, By the 1980s it was growing produce including bananas, pumpkins and zucchinis and exporting to Sydney and Melbourne. However, changes in farming practices, crop blight and cyclones meant the industry dried up.

Residents are desperate to revive the community’s fortunes but have received no support from the ILC to help them restart farming produce and running cattle. The community needs to produce to stave off the prospect of disappearing completely. For little Mowisha Jumbun is her home, history and possible employment … but without farming the future of her community is, indeed, bleak.

This was the first time that I’ve won anything whilst working for SBS … but hopefully not the last. Gratifyingly, this is the third year in a row that I’ve been named the ‘People’ category winner (here … are this year 20182017, 2016). Don’t know if I can keep that one up …!

Below – the Winning “Mowisha from Jumbun’ image – © Brian Cassey

Press Excellence in Rural Journalism Awards- Brisbane - People category - Winner - "Mowisha from Jumbun" by Brian Cassey

“A Photographer’s Life – Part One” at The Tanks …

It has been an absolute pleasure to bring my “A Photographer’s Life – Part One” exhibition back to Cairns. More than half the featured works were made in the Cairns or north Queensland region (the remainder from various parts of the planet).

The work was originally collated as a ‘featured exhibition’ in the 2017 Head On Photo Festival earlier this year and was hosted by the Moran Foundation at the heritage listed Juniper Hall in Paddington, Sydney. The exhibition was selected by eminent photography journalist Alison Stieven-Taylor as one of the top five exhibitions in the festival  (from a total of 147).

When I approached The Tanks curator Chris Stannard with the idea of showing the work in Cairns he didn’t hesitate … and he and his team has worked a miracle to get it up and launched before the years end. I owe Chris and his team … Ulys, Lou, Ivan and the team … a massive vote of ‘Thanks’. Indeed … the exhibition has been ‘tweaked’ since Sydney and, in all honesty, looks significantly better than it did in the gracious surrounds of historic Juniper Hall.

In particular, the camera hardware referred to in the exhibition is featured more prominently at The Tanks … and there also a few ‘kit’ additions. Thanks to a donation by fellow photographer David Hancock, the exhibit now includes the first ever usable digital photojournalist camera from the 90’s … the then massively expensive Kodak Nikon AP NC2000 … and a long forgotten United Press International ‘wire’ drum photo transmitter from the 70’s to the 80’s. These sit alongside a collection of my very used and battered Nikon kits … and examples of my earliest cameras from the very first plastic VP Twin way back when I was a pre teen.

There are also two large TV screens continuously showing five of my video features including the multi award winning “Eyes – the Soul of a Photograph”.

Exhibition opening eve last Friday was wonderful … and I’d like to thank the many who arrived and made it such a great night. TA !

“A Photographer’s Life – Part One” is showing at The Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns till January 30th 2018 … with a short break for Xmas festivities between 23rd December to January 2nd.

Finally … on the day of the exhibition opening I was interviewed on ABC Radio Far North by affable breakfast presenter Kier Shorey … about the exhibition, work and life … and, if you fancy, the near thirteen minute audio is below.

 

 

Images at The Tanks © Brian Cassey

"A Photographer's Life - Part One" - The Tanks, Cairns by Brian Cassey

"A Photographer's Life - Part One" - The Tanks, Cairns by Brian Cassey

"A Photographer's Life - Part One" - The Tanks, Cairns by Brian Cassey

 

BBC 5 Live & “A Photographer’s Life – Part One” …

Prior to the last weekends launch of my exhibition “A Photographer’s Life – Part One” at the 2017 Head On Photo Festival in Sydney, I was interviewed by my old mate BBC Australia correspondent Phil Mercer.

The BBC 5 Live interview, hosted by Phil and Rhod Sharp, became a rather lengthy affair and touched on my photographic work over the decades, Head On Photo Festival and my featured “A Photographer’s Life – Part One” exhibition in Sydney, various aspects of photography and photojournalism … and my life in the UK and Australia. It runs for near 22 minutes.

 

“After The Wave” – Tsunami 10 Years On …

Seems impossible that the horror of the Boxing Day Asian tsunami is now ten years past today. Still hard to believe – even after working on the aftermath in Banda Aceh Indonesia, Phuket Thailand and Myanmar – that nearly a quarter of a million died that day.

For those who worked documenting the Worlds (possibly) largest ever natural disaster, including myself, the images of death and destruction are indelibly etched.

I was tasked to cover the tsunami alongside the tough as nails and supremely talented UK journalist Susie Boniface for a British Sunday tabloid. Our immediate objective was to find the youngest UK victim and in Phuket we discovered battered survivor Patrice Fayet searching for his British wife and 6 month old Ruby-Rose. With the permission of Patrice and his family we documented his search amongst the temple morgues around Koh Lak Thailand. A eye opening unenviable task. The remains of Patrice’s wife Samantha were identified by DNA some months later. Ruby-Rose has never been found.

Ten years on and I was approached by a production company to provide my images of Patrice and the search for Ruby-Rose for use as an integral part of a 90 minute commemorative documentary film “After the Wave”. The film has already aired on SBS and the UK Discovery Channel to mark the tenth anniversary of the disaster.

“After the Wave” tells the untold story of the epic forensic operation in Thailand to identify and return home the bodies of over 5,000 victims. It has received great reviews in the Australian media. The SMH described it as ‘Haunting and Beautiful’ …  SBS stated  “The 90 minute film ‘After The Wave’ features heartbreaking first-person accounts of families torn apart when the tsunami struck. It also tells the story of the Australian Federal Police officers who led what became the world’s biggest forensic identification operation – returning a staggering 4000 bodies to families in 40 different countries”.

Around a dozen of my images from ten years ago are used in the production (with Patrice’s permission) and a further two of Patrice during his search for Ruby-Rose are being used on promotional material for “After the Wave” … and these can be viewed below (pics 2 and 3).

A collection of my tsunami photographs from both the 2004 Asian event (including those of Patrice’s search) and the Papua New Guinea tsunami in Sissano and Aitape 1998 can be found at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/photographs/tsunami/

Patrice Fayet images © Brian Cassey

AfterTheWave1

AfterTheWave3

AfterTheWaveBlog2

“Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year” …

It’s very hard to pace yourself at a glittering free alcohol media event over five long hours (not including the obligatory ‘after party’) … but that’s “The Walkley’s” for you!

Thursday night at the Royal International Convention Centre in Brisbane was the setting for this years Walkley Awards black tie media extravaganza … and if you weren’t lucky enough to score a ‘rare as hens teeth’ invitation in person it was screened live on ABC TV.

I was fortunate to be selected to attend as one of the three finalists in the “Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year” award … indeed an honour to be so selected from Australia’s fantastically talented press photographer contingent. My contenders for the major photographic award of the evening were the extremely talented Quinn Rooney from Getty Images and Kate Geraghty from Fairfax. I would like to say that I really enjoyed the entire show… but that would be stretching it!  In truth the stress of waiting, waiting, waiting for several hours for the relevant “Press Photographer of the Year” result to be announced wasn’t pleasant … despite the good humoured attention and support of all the Nikon Australia crew – Kylie, Julie, Steve, Andrew et al – at our table. (They even let me play with a brand new Nikon Df to take my mind of it all – very nice camera !)

The end result ? … you can find out ALL the finalists and winners and watch the entire Walkley event on ABC’s iview here at http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/program/78313946 … I’m still far too ‘stressed’!

The fantastic work of all the Nikon Walkley photographic finalists was arrayed strategically around the dining and awards venue for all to see and comment on. Indeed, broadcaster and journalist Mike Carlton (@MikeCarlton01) was moved enough on the night to ‘tweet’ thus – “Australian photographers are brilliant. Tragic that newspapers have punted so many of them”. Political journalist Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) also waded in on #walkleys with her ‘tweet’ – “Seriously media companies – invest in photographers. They reach people our words can’t or don’t. And my iPhone shots are shit.”

If you weren’t there on the big night all the Finalists images can also be found here at http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkleyfoundation/sets/ and my nominated  “Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year” portfolio is here at http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkleyfoundation/sets/72157636407740096/ .

Below is a screen shot of my Finalist portfolio from the Nikon Walkley Press Photography Flickr web site.

The Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition hits the road over the next 6 months or so … and you will be able to catch my work and the brilliant work of all the other finalists at shows in Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Newcastle and Brisbane … see here for dates and venues … http://www.walkleys.com/photography-events

Images © Brian Cassey

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ABC Media Report – Photojournalism Special …

Had the pleasure and privilege this week of being a third of the ‘panel’ chosen to talk on a ‘Photojournalism Special’ edition of the radio show – ‘Media Report’ on ABC National.

The program, which runs for about half an hour, aired on Friday 31st August at 5.30pm and was repeated early on the Saturday morning.

My co-panelists were Andrew Meares – Chief photographer Fairfax Canberra – and April Fonti – deputy photo editor at AAP … distinguished company !

Media Report host and presenter Richard Aedy led us through a discussion of the state of photojournalism in these changing and dramatic times.

I won’t give too much of it away as you can listen to the entire show by going to the Media Report ABC National web site hereMediaReport – Photojournalism Special

You can also click on the ABC National Media Report page below to hear the program. (Oh Yeah … that is one of my pics made during the Holi Festival in Jaipur, India.)

ABC Radio National – Media Report